E-ZPass cheaters drain $10.1M from N.J.

When it was pointed out last month that cash drawer shortages caused by toll collectors cost the New Jersey Turnpike Authority more than $358,000 last year, union leader Franceline Ehret just as quickly noted that those losses can't compare to the revenue that disappears from the unmanned E-ZPass lanes.

Operating the E-ZPass system costs the Turnpike Authority $70 million, according to an agency spokesman. Toll collector costs top $100 million.

Indeed, thousands of motorists blew through electronic toll lanes on the turnpike and Garden State Parkway last year without paying, costing the agency $10.1 million, agency figures show.

Agency spokesman Thomas Feeney said losses in E-ZPass lanes are higher because they handle most of the transactions.

He also said that even though the losses were smaller in manned lanes, the Turnpike Authority spends more overall to keep those lanes because those workers earn an average of $65,000 a year in salary, plus benefits.

"We collect just under 75 percent of our toll money through E-ZPass, and our annual cost to operate the E-ZPass program is about $70 million," Feeney said.

Meanwhile, he said, "we collect just over one-quarter of our tolls through cash, and our annual toll collection costs are $100 million."

The issue of manual toll collection costs at the Turnpike Authority is one that Ehret, president of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers Local 194, hears a lot about lately as the Turnpike Authority moves closer to making a decision on whether to hire a private firm to bring in lower-paid toll collectors.

Turnpike and parkway toll collectors average about $65,000 a year in salary, compared to the minimum $10- to $12-per-hour rate the private firms would be allowed to pay under guidelines the agency provided to prospective contractors.

Jim Simpson, state transportation commissioner and chairman of the Turnpike Authority board, has said toll collector salaries and benefits are too high and that while privatization is not a done deal, the agency is looking for the greatest savings.

Tracy Chang, director of the Labor Education and Research Now program at the Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations, said the public should recognize that toll collectors had reached those salaries over time.

"Those aren't starting rates," Chang said. "Those people are taking 20 to 30 years to get to that."

Growing labor strife

The relationship between the agency and the toll collectors has deteriorated rapidly in the last few weeks as the agency continues talking to private firms about taking over the manual toll collection operation and Local 194 members try to salvage their jobs.

Ehret said the union offered $16 million in concessions — a figure Veronique Hakim, executive director of the Turnpike Authority, disputes. The two sides last met in January, and talks appear to have stalled, with each side saying that the other needs to make the next move.

A board meeting last week erupted into chaos when members of various state unions began shouting at Simpson to commit to a negotiations meeting with Local 194.

And this week, the two sides are expected to appear in a Newark courtroom regarding a lawsuit the union filed against the Turnpike Authority.

The agency in January invited firms to submit proposals to run the toll collection operation. It provided those companies with a list of requirements, including giving the agency's toll collectors hiring preference.

This occurred even as the agency's management held negotiations with Ehret and Local 194 on a new contract. All the union contracts expire on June 30, including that of the parkway toll collectors in Local 196 of the IFPTE.

After Turnpike Authority leadership met with interested companies, Ehret herself reached out to the companies to introduce herself.

She also urged her members to apply to the firms for jobs, a move that Turnpike Authority officials considered to be meddling.

Later, the agency lifted the requirement that the companies give right of first refusal to the existing toll collectors.

Local 194 fired back with a lawsuit, claiming the Turnpike Authority was unfairly retaliating against workers.